%0 Journal Article %J Nanotechnology %D 2017 %T Cubosomes for in vivo fluorescence lifetime imaging. %A Biffi, Stefania %A Andolfi, Laura %A Caltagirone, Claudia %A Garrovo, Chiara %A Falchi, Angela M %A Lippolis, Vito %A Lorenzon, Andrea %A Macor, Paolo %A Meli, Valeria %A Monduzzi, Maura %A Obiols-Rabasa, Marc %A Petrizza, Luca %A Prodi, Luca %A Rosa, Antonella %A Schmidt, Judith %A Talmon, Yeshayahu %A Murgia, Sergio %K Animals %K Carbocyanines %K Cell Survival %K Drug Compounding %K Erythrocytes %K Female %K Fluorescent Dyes %K Glycerides %K Humans %K Injections, Intravenous %K Liposomes %K Liver %K Mice %K Mice, Inbred BALB C %K Nanoparticles %K NIH 3T3 Cells %K Optical Imaging %K Particle Size %K Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared %K Time-Lapse Imaging %X

Herein we provided the first proof of principle for in vivo fluorescence optical imaging application using monoolein-based cubosomes in a healthy mouse animal model. This formulation, administered at a non-cytotoxic concentration, was capable of providing both exogenous contrast for NIR fluorescence imaging with very high efficiency and chemospecific information upon lifetime analysis. Time-resolved measurements of fluorescence after the intravenous injection of cubosomes revealed that the dye rapidly accumulated mainly in the liver, while lifetimes profiles obtained in vivo allowed for discriminating between free dye or dye embedded within the cubosome nanostructure after injection.

%B Nanotechnology %V 28 %P 055102 %8 2017 Feb 03 %G eng %N 5 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28032617?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1088/1361-6528/28/5/055102 %0 Journal Article %J Expert Opin Drug Deliv %D 2015 %T Applications of nanoparticles in cancer medicine and beyond: optical and multimodal in vivo imaging, tissue targeting and drug delivery. %A Biffi, Stefania %A Voltan, Rebecca %A Rampazzo, Enrico %A Prodi, Luca %A Zauli, Giorgio %A Secchiero, Paola %X

INTRODUCTION: Nanotechnology has opened up the way to the engineering of new organized materials endowed with improved performances. In the past decade, engineered nanoparticles (NPs) have been progressively implemented by exploiting synthetic strategies that yield complex materials capable of performing functions with applications also in medicine. Indeed, in the field of 'nanomedicine' it has been explored the possibility to design multifunctional nanosystems, characterized by high analytical performances and stability, low toxicity and specificity towards a given cell target. Area covered: In this review article, we summarize the advances in the engineering of NPs for biomedical applications, from optical imaging (OI) to multimodal OI and targeted drug delivery. For this purpose, we will provide some examples of how investigations in nanomedicine can support preclinical and clinical research generating innovative diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in oncology. Expert opinion: The progressive breakthroughs in nanomedicine have supported the development of multifunctional and multimodal NPs. In particular, NPs are significantly impacting the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies since they allow the development of: NP-based OI probes containing more than one modality-specific contrast agent; surface functionalized NPs for specific 'molecular recognition'. Therefore, the design and characterization of innovative NP-based systems/devices have great applicative potential into the medical field.

%B Expert Opin Drug Deliv %P 1-13 %8 2015 Aug 9 %G ENG %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26255585?dopt=Abstract